Masks
by dundee998
Summary: Sakura wears a mask. It blushes easily and makes eyes at cute boys. The true mind behind the act watches, and waits. She waits for one whose mask hides an intelligence that might just match her own...
1. Prologue: Learning

It was a mystery to her, why everyone said that she was so smart. Sure, Sakura got good grades at the academy, but those were just from reading the books and paying attention once in a while. Anyone could read. Anyone could take a few hours to listen to the professionals. Iruka-sensei wasn't _that_ boring, and if one had problems staying awake, there was an amazing invention called 'coffee' that could help you with that. Sakura practically lived off the stuff, which lead that damnable Inuzaka to tease her mercilessly about the smell--a single, well-placed fist soon remedied that.

It wasn't until the Wave Mission when she started noticing things, that she knew what should have been the basics, and Sasuke didn't. Naruto, she was expecting to be hopeless, but the Prodigy?…

Tree climbing had been scary. Not for the heights, of course, but for the fact that no one seemed to understand what was really going. The Uchiha was doing it all wrong-mostly due to Kakashi's inadequate teaching skills, but she didn't dare reprimand her teacher's instructions. However, the way that Kakashi used his chakra-it was, well, wasteful.

Inefficient.

The blue flames bled into the bark, and created dead spots on the tree. The leaves on the nearby branches began to shrivel. When Sakura made contact with the tree-nice and slow, none of that testosterone-fueled racing-it was like it hadn't been touched at all.

She glanced up from her observations to watcher her love, her genius, fail again after who-knows-how-many tries.

His and Naruto's trees were injured beyond repair with the combined pleats of kunai-scars and the inexperienced flares of chakra; hers was unmarked, and its leaves looked vaguely more… _chipper_ than the surrounding foliage.

That was the last time she would ever channel chakra into a tree.

After all, she couldn't be different. She had no mysterious bloodline. There had to be at least _one_ normal person on this insane team, and if Kakashi wasn't willing to tone down his oddities, she would. However, the differences in adequacy only grew between her team mates as time wore on. Enter the Chuunin Exams, and the so-called 'test'.

It wasn't that difficult.

Actually, it wasn't hard in the slightest; and yet, as she cast her eyes around the room, no one had a clue of where to start. They were _all_ cheating.

A lot of them were cheating off of _her_.

Including her former best friend.

The only reason why she didn't squash the annoying mosquito invading her body was because she felt pity. Pity for this sad pathetic ghost of the girl she once admired above everyone else.

Beneath the insults and squabbles, she had still respected Ino for being so much _more_ than Sakura; now she knew that it was all a lie. Ino was small, Naruto was small, and she was beginning to Sasuke-kun, the wunderkind, was an insect to her.

As the proctor announced the end of the Exam and Naruto started his usual banter, she realized that their confidence was a mask.

She wore a mask, too.

It blushed easily and made eyes at cute boys.

The true girl watched, and waited.

The mask began to take on a new purpose; not to convince herself that she was normal, but to convince others. It was a handy trait, to be underestimated.

She learned that from Naruto.

It was the sole lesson she ever received while operating under Team Seven.

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**A/N: Naw, I don't think Sakura has a kekkei-genkai. This is just a beginning, to explain exactly how Sakura fits into the story that's coming up. As for the nature of the story… Well, I'm still working on that. For now, I'm just testing the waters, as it were.**


	2. Chapter One: Finding

The first time Sakura suspected someone of being more than they appeared, of having a clue why it was important to hide, was sometime after the second Chuunin Exam. There was an entire month between the elimination rounds and the third exam, and she hadn't seen her teammates since they got out of the Forest of Death.

Of course, because Sakura had lost, all attention would be turned to the competitors so they could show off in front of a thousand people who wouldn't appreciate what a real shinobi battle should be like, and the girl who lost would have to watch with them. It was a bitter, mean punishment for having lost, and Sakura wished that Kakashi had taken the time to find a teacher for _her_, no matter if he was a stiff-necked sycophant or a blatant pervert (though that would be rather creepy).

In the midst of these treacherous, miserable thoughts, she watched Kurenai doing something she was sure was very teacher-ish and not perverted at all with Kiba and Hinata. Shino, she surmised, was training for the big day with his clan.

From the few keywords she could hear over Akamaru's doggy snores, it seemed to be a lesson on genjutsu. She wondered what sort of illusions the two genin would make, as the different ways of paying attention to details made every genjutsu unique to its maker, effectively revealing the personality of the maker in question.

Kiba's would probably overload the victim with amplified senses-that could be a useful move against enemy nins to make them disoriented. As for Hinata's, she could only guess-no, she could also just wait.

Sakura observed with curiosity as the dark haired girl nodded in response to her teacher's unheard request and clasped her fingers together--

the world burned an unearthly cerulean, objects shone with bright, cyan fire, and everything was unmistakably _alive_, silvery blue power flowing like blood throughout the humans and the dog and the _trees_ and the _ground_ and the _mountain itself_ was alive in that slow, ponderous way of the earth--

The visage ended as the caster broke her concentration, but trails of light still traced fire on Sakura's eyes, and she looked with alarm at Hinata, who stared right back with pale eyes that suddenly seemed unfathomable and strange. Her already pale face faded to grey at the sight of the pink-haired girl, her mouth forming a silent '_Don't.'_

Sakura stood there staring for a few more moments, thoughts about the world she had just peeked into whirling like tangled threads in her mind, then walked away.

Hinata was shy. Hinata was a little clueless. Hinata was the small, defenseless black sheep of the Hyuugas. Hinata's world was of the omnipresent perfection of life, a world whose truths were revealed through silvery blue fire and proved to be beautiful.

Try as she might, Sakura could never corner Hinata to discuss what had happened. The Hyuuga girl took to moving in crowds, no longer tailing on the end but forcing her way into the middle where Sakura was forced to let her be, out of common courtesy. Common courtesy, to let the only other person who had a clue about _What Was Going On _live her odd, strange life in peace.

They had a Purpose, that much she was sure of. It was rather important; why else would she and Hinata and Kami-knows-who-else have this damnable awareness of it?

Time passed. She began training herself, as neither Naruto nor Sasuke or even Kakashi had shown themselves in weeks. Kurenai offered to train her a few times, but as Sakura was frightened of what her subconscious would show her, she declined politely. Once in a while, she had lunch with the odd, somehow surreal Team Eight; Kiba, she surmised, was not nearly as annoying as she had once thought, but neither was he any savant in disguise. Shino was labeled as creepy but polite, and Hinata smiled and blushed and never opened her mouth except to take delicate sips of tea. The Third Exam drew closer; the Third Exam finally began.

Naruto's fight was first. She wondered idly if she had been right in dismissing him as One With A Purpose, then remembered his fight with Kiba and its anticlimactic end with a wince. Yes, Naruto was more than he appeared, but he was hiding competence, not intelligence.

The constant reprogramming of the tournament was confusing, and she was surprised when she saw the Nara in the rink with the Suna girl. His plans were, while clever, unfortunate.

If he'd spent more time building stamina, rather than argue pointlessly with Ino about the efficiency of the poison in painted daisies, he'd have cleaned it up easily. If he had learned the Kage Bunshin, or had a teammate to back him up, it would have been swift and brutal. For all the handicaps, however, he was brilliant.

Then came Sasuke. The entire fight felt dirty. The prodigy had cheated off of a ninja who had worked hard for every skill he had, and now he was bullying a mentally unstable boy who'd never been in a real fight before. It tasted nasty, and she was almost grateful when the stadium was attacked. That very few people managed to dispel the genjutsu by themselves, including herself, was no longer a surprise.

The Nara was awake, of course, and she hated him for his cowardice and common sense. As that strange dog finally released his hand, he stared at her through hooded eyes, and she saw, hidden behind a fog of laziness and complaints and lack of motivation, a hard, calculating intelligence that glittered somewhere in the boy's black-brown iris.

He broke his gaze to say something dry and complaining and undoubtedly witty, and Sakura was left with a question that chilled her: _What would happen now? What, exactly, is the Purpose?_

The question was lost on the whirlwind of chaos that followed, and was replaced by thoughts like, _Maybe Sasuke wasn't wrong when he was using that power on Gaara,_ and _Why am I always the damsel in distress? I bet Ino doesn't have to deal with this every other day._

Not a single thought about a mysterious Task reappeared in her mind until the day that Naruto left to go train with that idiotic pervert of his, and she stood by the gate he'd walked out of hours before, staring into the dark haze the evening brought without intention. It took her a few minutes to realize that someone was watching her from behind, and this was only after the intruder cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Are you going to ask your question, or stare at the forest for the rest of the night?"

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**AN:** I'll be the first to admit to my run-on sentences. Go on, mock them. I still remain of the opinion that certain rules of structure may be ignored in the task of whatever-it-is-I'm-writing. In the meantime, I'll stress about whether too many sentences start with pronouns and the proper way to split paragraphs to make reading this drivel easiest. The comment about painted daisies and poison comes from an incident when my mother planted the blasted flowers right next to the parsley plant, and I almost killed my family from mistaking one for the other. Yes, very exciting.

Oh my, I've finally found why authors are constantly hounding for reviews. Thank you, **crazyevilgirl** and **Evercold!! I really, really hope that this story will be continue to be worth your attention!**


	3. Chapter Two: Lying

Sasuke was a planner. Improvisation was a figment of his imagination. Events furled out neatly and in order, and everything had a reason. This is why he never, ever associated himself with people like Naruto. Wild cards were dangerous to his plans. Unfortunately, all his attempts to discourage the illogical idiot were met with an equal force of pressure, and eventually the two were too tied together to help. Sasuke metaphorically gritted his teeth, and forced himself to leave leeway for his friend, and see what aspects he could work with to further his plans. It was during the Wave Mission that he realized that no plan with Naruto in its formation would turn out the way he wanted. It seemed the only things he could expect his teammate to do was to be loud, easily flustered, and willing to do anything to prove a point. So it went, and Sasuke planned his every move in the presence of Naruto in order to make the blonde malleable to his plans-until the Second Exam. Enter yet another Wild Card who completely and utterly crushed his machinations: Orochimaru. This time, he had a bit more trouble fitting the old snake into his plans, for the reason that he didn't know which to choose: a slow but steady road to strength, or a near-instant accomplishment, probably at the cost of his immortal soul. Here, Sasuke had admitted to himself, he had chosen a pretty bad time to try his hand at doing something unpredictable. He hadn't wanted the fight he had against Naruto at the Valley. That fight was bitter, too emotional to be a true test of himself.

At first, he had counted on proving himself during the Chuunin Exams, and had found himself wanting. It wasn't acceptable. As he was wiped out by playing with a mentally unstable boy who had never been in a real fight, Naruto had defeated a demon. It was the same opponent in both encounters, but the nature of the fights were completely different. That, really, was why he had decided on the risk to his soul. The wound that Itachi had left was old; the slap in the face he'd just received from the worst student in his class was new and hot. This new rage had released itself in the Valley of the End, and Sasuke wished it had never happened. As a case to prove his ability, it was too bitter, too choked up, and it hadn't achieved anything but admitting exactly what kind of a person Sasuke was, and a new-found fear of his stupid teammate.

Sasuke fled to Orochimaru in terror of the beast he had left behind, and threw himself into the senseless torture that the bastard called 'training.' He lost his sense of time as the months flew by, and a third of the time he was recuperating from the exertions put on him by his new instructor. His plans evolved in their stagnation, and Sasuke found a place in his schedule to prove himself against not Naruto, but the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. This time, it would not be a fight over such things as friendship, things pointless to fight over because there could be no dispute over the bond that refused to be cut down, no matter how many times he blunted his word against it. It would be a fight most likely to the death, and neither would hold anything back. Sasuke was still haunted by that moment when Naruto's claws were inches from tearing off his face, and instead had the audacity to mark Sasuke's hitai-ate. It was scary, and it was infuriating. If the blonde pulled anything like that in their next fight, Sasuke would kill him without hesitation.

"What about you, Sasuke?" He looked up with a start. The other Sound nin were all staring at him with evident curiosity. The one who had spoken, a red haired kunoichi who reminded him uncomfortably of Sakura, scooched closer to him. He inched away. She seemed vaguely put out. "Who did you leave behind?"

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, wishing that his associates would stop with these adolescent games. They were shinobi, for heaven's sake, not hormone-driven civilians at a slumber party.

"From your village, who did you leave behind that you wish you didn't have to," explained the girl. "Like, I left behind my sister, and Aquaboy over here left off his training to be a Swordsman of the Mist with his brother to be here. Did you have anyone?"

"Of course not," Sasuke lied. "Why are you all discussing something as inane and pointless as that? We should prepare for the mission. People who aren't standing watch should be asleep." The Sakura clone squeaked and blushed at that, and became extremely busy with combing out her wild hair in getting ready for bed. 'Aquaboy,' a red-eyed boy with sharp teeth and an even sharper tongue, simply rolled his eyes and walked out to the outskirts of their small camp.

As his teammates-accomplices, and nothing more-went about their tasks, Sasuke laid back on his sleeping bag and wondered why he'd lied. It shouldn't have been a lie, but he was willing to be honest with himself on that point. What was the point of it? Why did he need to put on this façade of detachment? It was a bloody stupid mask to don, but for some reason he could not comprehend, he didn't want to lose his humanity after all. What a curious happenstance, that even his subconscious could interfere with his plans. He would have to think about this.

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This probably isn't what you guys are expecting from this story. Make of it what you will.


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